You have to feel sorry for James Cleverly. He was apparently gutted to be moved from the Foreign Office, with ita extensive travel. In his new role all he has had so far is a day trip to Rwanda...
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And (see last month) we now know that Robert Jenrick is a true Suella headbanger.
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A sixth former Tok Tok user has shared a view on Israel/Gaza from another Tik Tok user of similar age. For me it offers a valuable insight. The other user wrote:
'If you're not pro-Palestine, we're not friends. If you're neutral right now, we're not friends. If you're too uneducated to have an opinion, we're not friends...Your neutrality is your complacency'.
One supplement from same individual, which is that if you say that the conflict is complicated then you are 'uneducated'.
Division on generational lines.
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Sorry for so much politician stuff, but currently they are the gift that keeps on giving. In the Covid Inquiry Boris Johnson says that lockdown was the only tool he had in the early stages of he pandemic. Is it my smutty mind that reacts to this, or is it Johnson's inherently smutty character?
Please note that one should continue to refer to him as Johnson. For too long he got away with 'Boris', with its tinge of cuddly familiarity.
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My stupidity knows no bounds. I must be the last person to learn that crabsticks are made of finely pulverised white fish plus starch, and not from crab.
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A friend writes from Tel Aviv. He went out to lunch with his wife. Just as their meal finished, the sirens started. There was only time to run to a stairwell at the back of the restaurant. A lot of noise. Iron Dome operating against the rockets being fired in. Then the noise stopped. They went back to the restaurant. They had a glass of mint tea. Then they went home.
Whatever your position on Israel/Hamas/Gaza, we in the UK cannot see the conflict in the same way as those who in any capacity are living through it.
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In a novel some bloke wrote, the author invented the word 'blackwhite'. Applying the word to a political opponent means the other person is claiming something as a fact that the evidence shows is not a fact; applying the word to a supporter validates the supporter in knowing in their head that an alleged fact is untrue but nevertheless for externally projected views saying that the alleged fact is indeed true.
Or alternatively, there are the words of former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption on the Government's plan to declare Rwanda a 'safe country' for processing asylum claims:
'There is no precedent for changing the facts by statute and requiring the courts to accept them whether true or false'.
Of course, being smart people you will know full well that the author bloke was George Orwell and that his novel was '1984'.
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The Conservative headbangers roared and then whimpered. I doubt it had anything to do with Rwanda. I suspect that their attention was drawn pointedly to the apocalypse that would follow voting down the Bill at Second Reading stage. Self-preservation, even if temporary, is a powerful motivator.
And I do like the image of Mark Francois as all mouth and no trousers.
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A respected commentator on the Middle East wrote:
'When Israel goes to war, two clocks start running. One counts the time needed by the military. The other is for the time left until the outside world demands a ceasefire, which Israeli diplomats work hard to slow down.'
BTW this was written about Operation Grapes of Wrath (the sense of biblical fury was not an accident), an Israeli offensive against Hizbullah in Lebanon in 1996.
Not much changes.
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Oscar season has started. All to their own tastes. I found 'Napoleon' a ponderous action movie, brightened only by occasional and sometimes unintended humour. The standout was Ruper Everett in a camp cameo as the Duke of Wellington. But 'Maestro' had extraordinary depth of performance from Bradley Cooper (also directing) as Leonard Bernstein, and Carey Mulligan as his wife Felicia Montealegre (for whom the term 'long-suffering' must have been invented). I am a sucker for the gut-wrencher.
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To the brilliant Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town for an author reading by Michael Palin. His now 80-year old frame looked a little fragile as I approached the signing desk, but what a rubbish perception as he, disregarding the table and chair, launched into 45 minutes on his feet, summarising the account of his Great Uncle Harry, followed by 15 minutes of thoughtful answering of questions.
It was the professionalism that got me, an easy flow with both sad and humorous anecdotes and an eschewing of the lazy writer's approach of reading long passages straight out of the book. One of the questioners kept coming back with supplementals amounting to show-off statements, until Palin gracefully cut him by raising his eyes and sourcing a question from elsewhere in the room. Class.
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Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock on the radio, talking about a meteor shower due that evening. Are astronomers, at least those who are also media performers, chronically (and delightfully) enthusiastic? Is there a condition termed Patrick Moore Syndrome?
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Thursday 14th December. In Friday WFH world, this was the night of the office do (21st too close to Xmas Day). I was in town to run a corporate Treasure Hunt. Folks out and about as I strolled around early evening, some penguin-suited and sparkly dressed for a big bash, others content to throng inside and outside the pubs, coralled by beefy guys keeping them confined to approved spaces.
I have done so many of these nights over the years, and thought of the heavy heads the next morning, and in worse cases the wavy line to Liverpool Street and/or the pavement vom..
After a finishing beer with the client, I slipped away for a Pizza Express visit on the way home. Happy with that
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Christmas (not Xmas, only for purposes of alliteration) is coming: advice already out about the dangers of flying champagne corks.
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City University message me concerning one of their forthcoming writing courses. They include the text:
'As a valued member of our writing community, we wanted to reach out to you with an exciting offer for our upcoming Spring 2024 Creative Writing Courses'.
This means that City University is a valued member of its own writing community.
To be fair, that is a classic marketeer error. But I am still minded to offer the University a course on English grammar.
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Frozen pitches. I loved it when this happened for an FA Cup match due to be shown live on BBC1. The pundits were sent out to fill time pending producers deciding how to reschedule after last-minute cancellation. Lacking cricket commentators' ability to improvise about anything for an extended period (that usually through 'rain stopped play'), they struggled on analysing the depth of ice and potential injury risk. Referee had said no to play. Differences of opinion on whether the surface was playable. I fancifully wondered if VAR might help...
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What a pleasure to be able to do the last item on a note of innuendo. The splendid Shepherd Neame Brewery has a strong beer, the name of which you will see in a moment. One of its pubs has a poster of an attractive buxom barmaid leaning towards the camera. Even as I write this, I am amazed that the poster has survived.
Anyway, for good or ill here we go:
'Come inside and enjoy a Bishops Finger'.
No apostrophe might have saved the day...or maybe not. That's the beauty of innuendo.
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And on that note, enjoy the rest of the Festive Season...and mind those corks
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The author is a writer, speaker, historian, occasional tour guide, and former Managing Partner of a City law firm.